One word - self-esteem. I actually have some now. I was 22 10 years ago and a totally different person. I was drinking a lot, engaging in a lot of very dangerous behavior, severely depressed, completely irrespondable about money, you name it. I was incredibly screwed up.

Something happened to me 10 years ago this August that finally helped me hit rock bottom and get to work on turning my life around. I really strugged for the next 8 years, I wanted to make things better and I tried but failed most of the time. Turning 30 was a major turning point for me. In early 2001, I saw the birthday coming and it really lit a fire under me to finally get things together once and for all. And now I finally feel like a grown-up. I'm sober, I'm drug-free, I have a wonderful husband, great friends, a decent career and overall a great life. I'm not always happy and there are still plenty of areas that I'm still working on but I'm more happy than sad, angry or frustrated and view my life as extraordinarily boring and I love it!

And yay Curmudge posted!